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Wednesday, 9 November 2016

quote:
...In this VS episode I will compare the gravimetric and volumetric energy density and the price of lead acid, NiMH, Li-Ion and LiPo batteries with one another. I will also talk about how dangerous each battery type can be and what kind of battery you should get for your next project...

Monday, 7 November 2016

While there are a fair amount of SDRs in the $200-300 price range, there are few that are actually transceivers. I'm also impressed with the level of filtering on both the RX and TX stages and the fact that the baseband and digital section have separate and isolated grounds. The RS-HFIQ could potentially have a low noise floor and a decent front end.The SWLing Post.

Product Summary

Not just another SDR - The RS-HFIQ offers real RF performance for serious communications. Covering the 80-10M Amatuer Radio bands with excellent RX performance and 5 watts of TX power, using open-source SDR software for CW, SSB, AM, FM and digital modes, the RS-HFIQ sets a new standard for shortwave SDR communications.RS-HFIQ 5W

Friday, 4 November 2016

Bob gets to weigh up the latest offering of digital transceivers with Gary from ML&S.
We chat about the weather with two experts who always look on the bright side. Jim Bacon and Steve Nichols explain how we can work with the prevailing conditions to maximise our chances of good DX.
And Bob realises a boyhood dream by reliving the heady days of offshore radio on the UK’s high seas.

a.k.a. Afraid of the Chinese traders even when the sell cheaply!
I bought from e-bay a "1 Metre Banana Plug Probe to Test Hook Clip Probe Test Lead Cable For Multimeter" eBay item number:291624414485 for the bargain price of 1.40€. It is not soldered! It's just splashed with solder. Look carefully at the black wire were it connects with the probe. It slides by a few millimeters!

Wednesday, 26 October 2016

A far more simplified, minimalist actually, construction of the solder fume extractor.
All I used was a 120mm Dust Filter Cover Grill I bought from e-bay (eBay item number:201632874241) and one piece of Activated Carbon Foam Filter I bought from e-bay also. (eBay item number:191853623935)
The fan was found in my junk-room!
Very simple, very neat and you have yourself a useful apparatus to suck the dangerous soldering fumes away!
The original idea can be found here

Monday, 17 October 2016

October 22nd 2016 will see an increase in Summits on the Air activity between Europe and Australasia.

As has been the case for the last few years, a special event is being organised by Andrew VK1AD and Mike 2E0YYY to coincide with the improving radio propagation conditions.

This "S2S" (Summit to Summit) 'all mode' CW, SSB, Data, and even FM, event already has commitments from VK, ZL, G, GM, DL, ON, F and OE stations with other European stations expected to join in the climb to the top of mountains in each region. These "activators" aim to make as many "S2S" contacts as possible with other hams on SOTA summits in Europe and Australasia.

The timing will be from 06:30 UTC for about two hours and is planned to coincide with long path propagation between Europe and "down under." Around the same time, short path communications between Europe and North America is often possible. So if some SOTA activators in North America could listen out from a night time accessible SOTA summit, this activity has the chance to create a World-Wide Summit to Summit event this year.

Most stations will be running low power with simple omni-directional antennas, so this event also aims to show just what can be achieved with limited equipment from a location with a low noise floor.